Tranmere Rovers closing renowned Academy

TRANMERE ROVERS are closing their renowned Academy and all but one of their futsal teams.

Parents of Academy players have been asked to attend meetings at the Solar Campus tomorrow at which they are set to be told the news. Sunday’s home and away Academy fixtures at Walsall have also been cancelled.

Executive chairman Mark Palios, the former chief executive of the Football Association, told TGG: “There is an embargo and there will not be any announcements about this now.”

However, TGG understands that some members of staff have already been informed they are being made redundant.

The Academy was previously Category 3, but Tranmere lost that status - as well as the Football League funds it brought - when they were relegated from League Two in 2015.

The club’s futsal department - which is believed to be the largest in the country, with 140 registered players - will also be hit, with all teams other than the men’s seniors being disbanded.

Tranmere’s Academy was set up by former chairman Peter Johnson in 1987 and has produced a raft of top-flight players, including Jason Koumas, Steve Simonsen and Ryan Taylor.

In 2014 Palios warned: “Any closure of our Academy will also have a knock-on effect for the club. We would be unable to produce the young talent that raises the transfer fees needed to help Tranmere Rovers become sustainable.

“The sale of players from our academy has raised over £15m in recent years and income of that level is impossible to find in the current climate.”